FARMERS have been urged to be cautious about how they supply vehicles to help CBH Group transport grain from wheat bins to port for fear they may inadvertently be driving unlicensed trucks with no motor vehicle injury insurance.
Last month, CBH called on its grower members to help with its mammoth export task - 17.7 million tonnes of shipping capacity from the CBH system fully booked by exporters of WA grain.
Growers were asked to help transport about 2mt of grain to port by either contracting to a current CBH road contractor, leasing their vehicle to a contractor or contracting directly with the co-operative.
On Tuesday Livestock and Rural Transport Association of WA president David Fyfe said while he understood CBH needed to look at innovative ways to transport grain, the many agricultural concessions available to farmers should not be exploited to compete unfairly with professional transporters.
"WA farmers can access a number of registration and fuel discounts to offset costs of transporting their own inputs, outputs, and other production costs," Mr Fyfe said.
"But once they move from transporting their own product to a hire and reward arrangement, those concessions are not valid."
Concessions include a 50 per cent discount on truck registrations and motor vehicle injury insurance.
CBH chief operations officer Mick Daw said the co-operative had carefully considered existing concessions available to growers when developing its initiatives.
"Our rate structure for the initiatives recognises that growers will need to temporarily forgo these concessions when carting for CBH and we are available to work with the growers on how to do this if required," Mr Daw said.
"We also require appropriate insurance for growers to contract for outloading."
Mr Fyfe said with fuel costs predicted to rise by 20 to 30 cents per litre over coming weeks, many transport companies already on thin margins would be looking to pass costs on, however that may not always be possible where contracts have been locked in.
"Maintaining viable rural transport businesses in local communities must be a priority if we want to avoid ongoing capacity shortfalls at peak livestock, grain and fertiliser carting periods," he said.
"Ensuring all trucks on the road are operating on the same basis is an important aspect of preserving the rural transport fleet into the future."
Mr Daw said given the added pressure placed on road contractors from the recent increase in fuel prices, CBH had agreed to an out-of-cycle fuel adjustment to ensure all transporters remain viable when working for the co-operative.
"As we make our way through the significant export task, we recognise the importance of the rural transport industry and their ongoing support to CBH and the growers of WA in moving grain, especially in this record year," he said.
"Our initiatives also encourage local contractors to get on board through existing CBH road contractors and we're offering further incentives to reflect this."
According to Mr Fyfe, recent compliance activity in Queensland discovered 10pc of growers who were stopped were misusing their primary producer concessions.
"It is important CBH recognises this issue and manages it appropriately through its contractual arrangements with growers," he said.
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